Astrology for Writers Part 1: Introduction to the Real “Stars” that Matter

Astrology. I can already hear those of you in the cheap seats: “it’s a load of crap.” “It’s not scientific” and “horoscopes don’t mean anything.” Never fear, dear readers, Aunty Rachel is here to hold your hand, and walk you into the fascinating world of the stars… not idiot celebrities… the stars!
First off, let’s look at the daily horoscope issue. It’s funny, everyone dismisses them, but as soon as daily papers even hint that they are going to drop the weekly horoscope, their readers get all up in the editors faces and the sucker stay put. There’s something about it that people seem to want. The thing is, when you read the daily horoscope it reminds me of reading a weather forecast that just says “sunny” or “rainy” when you know there are a vast quantity of radar, satellite and other forecasting tools that modern meteorologists use. The same holds for the modern astrologer. Yes, an ancient science (probably the first science) has come into the modern age. There are several great websites such as Stariq, astrodienst, and the mountain astrologer, just to name a few.
What does all of this have to do with writing? Specifially, writing fiction? The modern reader wants to fall in love with wonderful, three dimensional characters who will take them to new an interesting places. As an author, if you simply base your characters on your own personality, then they all begin to act and sound like you. You need variety in your characters and you need conflict. In theses posts, my plan is to help you to read your own astrological chart, to unearth the symbols and the mythologies behind the signs to see where your strengths and struggles lie.
Most of you probably know your “sign” which is the constellation the sun was in when you were born. But do you know what sign the moon was in? Or how about Jupiter or Mercury? And what does that mean? When you think about your birthday, it’s very special to you. You mom made a great effort when you were growing up to remind you that on this day, you arrived on planet earth and your “birthday” recognizes that the sun has made one full orbit (yeah, I know the earth does the moving, but we’re talking about how things look when you stand on a planet the feels stationary) and the calendar says that it is your special day and you get presents and tons of great wishes from all your facebook pals.
And your birthday is special, it is your cosmic time stamp. Let’s look at it from an astrologer’s point of view. There is the month, day, and year of your birth. But there is also the exact time, was it one in the morning, or one in the afternoon? There is also the latitude and longitude of the place you were born. The astrologer takes all of this information and casts an “event” chart. Your birth is an event. This chart notes where all the planets are in the sky, what signs they were in and with the exact birth time, they know which sign was “rising” in the east, this tells us your “rising” sign and it charts all sorts of other interesting astrological phenomenon. Your Part of Fortune, North Node, the South Node.
All of this is set down on paper and then it is interpreted based on information that has been gathered for thousands of years. This event marks your connection to the cosmos. If I’m beginning to sound too airy-fairy, don’t worry. I just want to remind you that you, us, we are all vast, multi-dimensional cosmic creatures. The events that took place in the skies on the day of your birth are special. The exact configuration of planets will never happen again in another 250,000 years.
In the next few posts I’ll talk about what the chart looks like and walk you through some of the basics. Have I overwhelmed you already? I hope not. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Have you already had your chart read? What’s your experience been with astrology? I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by.

Cancer sun — you are the ulitmate “Mother” in a good way, the most devoted, loving lovly around. Boosted with the Cancer moon. The Leo rising is that “it’s all about me” factor which will help you when it comes time to promote your writing… which you are doing brilliantly. If you want to have some fun, go to astro.com and sign up, it’s free. Then fill in your birth information and check out the free charts. I like the Astro-click Portrait. It lets you click anywhere on your chart and give you more in-depth information.

Whoo-hoo, I am so excited for this series! I am an Aquarius/Pisces cusp (born late on February 18th), with a Scorpio rising and moon sign, which makes for quite the odd/intense mix. One of the things that I love to do with new friends is to create full charts for them (I like cafeastrology.com), and read them aloud for fun. It’s a great ice-breaker, though sometimes secrets get spilled. 😉

Lena, Lena, Lean. You don’t know if you want to save the world, save the whales, or poke people with stinging daggers of truth. You do have quite a challenging chart, but isn’t that the fun of it. So are your heroe/heroines idealistic airheads, or mutable over emotional fish? I have not checked out cafeastrology, thanks for the tip. FYI I have sun in Taurus, moon in Leo and Aquarius rising. Let me know what you think of me. Cheers!

Leo sun, Aquarius moon, Libra rising here 🙂 Actually, I use astrological profiles to create character traits and descriptions. It works well when my imagination hiccups and gives me great ideas for my characters. Looking forward to this, Rachel!

I’m seeing a trend here, I have Leo Moon and aquarius rising. I find it interesting to look at the conflicting qualities in my own chart and use those in my characters. It makes it more personal so I can relate to those struggles and it helps me find a myriad of situations to put my characters through. Have you ever heard of the “Leo Bubble” where everything is all about you and you like it that way?

Courageous post, Rachel! My sun is Pisces, moon in Sag, Libra rising. Plus a mars-venus conjunction in Aries.
I totally agree with your perspective. Moments in time are special because they will never be again.

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